Unveiling

Black cloths flutter behind frosted windows
Between the murmurs of passerbys ;quran plays in the background
The smell of cinnomin and cumin intoxicat the surroundings
Shadows hurry by dimly lit parking spaces

The sheihk begins the sermons, with the name of the lord most gracious most merciful
A resounding reply of god bless mohammed and his family echos into the night
The kids continue to negotiate color sharing techniques
While the mothers discuss the hot political issue of men and thier sex life
In the middle of it all ,She sets sloppily with an air of arrogance and uncaring
The same story, year after year
Murder,betrayl,loss,shame
Why cant we just move on, she wonders angrily
She tries to block out the surroundings including the story
No sense of getting all emotional over history

The voices settle in the back of her head only clearing the voice of the sermon
The sheikh gives a pathetic attmept to describe the scene of the battle
But shes one step ahead of him
Her chest contracts, her heart beats her imagination is in overload
Clash of swords,hooves of horses,cracking of the sun on the desert sand
Fallen men,crying women,wailing childern

She shakes her head refusing to shed a tear
Its just history,its just history who the hell cares?
Loosening her blouse she takes deep breaths,eyes closed
The scene floods back,choking she opens her eyes

The sheikh is still describing the battle
Heads down demurly,sobs audible
Kids quieted down
Deep breaths,keep ur eyes open
Keep them open, she sees it more clearly
She can taste the sand
No NO NO stop make it stop
She never wanted any part of it
She never claimed she can handle it

They stand up
Doing the old barbaric thing of beating on thier chest
One beat,two beat
The kids join in
The sound of the latimya is overshadowed with murmurs for the mothers
Moans of the religous,sobs of the pious
She watchs from the distance
Idoits
Taking a deep breath her eyes close for a second
The sand is hot under her bare feet

Jumping she shakes the image out of her head
Hand on the wall she stares at her feet
Ya hussien Ya Hussien Ya hussien
She tries blocking out the sounds
Ya hussien Ya hussien Ya hussien
God dammit they just wont shut up

Her eyes well up her throat aches
Every nerve in her body is taut
Mositening her lips she leans agianst the wall
Might as well take it now
Closing her eyes ,she surrenders yet agian to the sounds and sights of Karabala


3atham Allah Igrakoum